Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 24 January 2023, Official Report, column 859, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's safeguarding of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children housed in hotels.

The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people. Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels to give unaccompanied children a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found.

The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. This includes support workers being onsite in the hotels 24 hours a day, including nurses and social workers. All contingency sites have security staff on site and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

Records are kept and monitored of children leaving and returning to the hotel. Support workers will accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified. All sites have security staff to ensure the safety and welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to protect all children, regardless of where they go missing from. In the concerning occasion when any child goes missing, regardless of their status, they work closely with other local agencies, including the police, to urgently establish their whereabouts and ensure they are safe.